Not "Merry Christmas!" or "Happy Hanukkah!" or any other religion-specific good greeting. I don't care if some Christians are getting their bungholes a-quivering because people chose to say a more generic "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". First, it's not exactly uncommon knowledge that JESUS WASN'T BORN ON CHRISTMAS!!! Christmas is yet another Christian holiday developed to overshadow a pre-existing more Pagan holiday. Second, it's not about materialism, about having to get gifts for people. So stop the panic and save your money. There's more to Christmas and Hanukkah and this whole time of year, and why I say "Happy Holidays!"

It's about light.

Every week I talk to a friend - it's our ritual and we've talked every week for about 30 years. We're both deeply into Religion and Spirituality but from different directions. In our last talk we both griped about how we're sick of the faux Holiday Spirit and the wretched music. He talked about how the true meaning of Christmas gets overlooked. No, not about the birth of Jesus which has tremendous controversy, least of which is "When..." and most of which has to do with an illegitimate birth. In any case, he mentioned the true meaning of Christmas has to do with light, that this time of year Christmas represents a temporary light from the long Winter's darkness.

Which is all well and good, I said, and fits in well with Hanukkah AKA The Festival of Lights. Hanukkah is about the miracle of oil lasting for eight days instead of one day, giving those extra days of light and thus extra comfort from the darkness.

And we both nodded our heads after seeing the light.

As human beings we don't care for the dark. It hides the boogeyman and other creatures. It allows our imagination to run a bit wild over every unexpected noise. Simply, darkness hides those that could, and long ago did, prey on us. With that, winter can be difficult as the nights are very long. We want something to break the boredom and shadows. We want something to remind us that spring will happen very soon. We want light. We want a festival. And so before Hanukkah we had something, a wintertime celebration. And we have Hanukkah, and Christmas, and more celebrations.

And so I say "Happy Holidays!" to all people, religious or otherwise, in the spirit of humanity.

"Happy Holidays!" - II
And I repeat - "Happy Holidays!"

Not "Merry Christmas!" or "Happy Hanukkah!" or any other religion-specific good greeting. I don't care if some Christians are getting their bungholes a-quivering because people chose to say a more generic "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Their self-centered, selfish attitude is exactly wrong with this time of year and our country. That attitude is divisive and certainly not in the spirit of Christmas or being a Christian. But it's perfectly representative of the New America where Jesus apparently rules over the right shoulder of Dubya and a Kevlar-clad Angel of War looks over the other. Where Dubya lights the Christmas tree and the Menorah yet, hmmm, doesn't fast, even symbolically, on Ramadan. And how will Bush include the Atheists? Maybe have a day where he doesn't invoke God in every paragraph?!?

Happy Holidays!